Month: June 2011

Below is an early version of my short story for Friday’s Merc about Utah and Colorado coming on board.

There isn’t much new ground to cover — expansion has been a done deal for more than a year — so the story looks at how July 1 is being treated in Salt Lake City and Boulder/Denver. It also provides a little background on Colorado’s situation and the reasons for expansion.

But first, a few housekeeping items:

*** The league’s football media day, which includes the release of the preseason poll, is July 26 in Los Angeles. The conference will also take its PR show to the east coast that week, with a lengthy stop in Bristol.

*** Commissioner Larry Scott is at least a month away from finalizing details of the TV and digital networks, and I was told yesterday that it might be mid-August before everything is set. (He can’t wait much longer; it will take a year to get the networks launched.)

Let’s start with the news, such as it is: Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby told me that he has signed a contract extension that runs through August 2017.

His existing deal — the one he signed upon taking the job in 2006 — expires in two months.

Now, here’s why I called the situation “curious”:

Last August, when Bowlsby was entering the final year of his contract, I emailed his boss, Provost John Etchemendy, who chaired the search committee that hired Bowlsby.

When asked about the status of Bowlsby’s presumed contract extension, Etchemendy responded that the two of them hadn’t discussed it … that he didn’t even realize Bowlsby was entering the final year of his contract … and, oh-by-the-way, Bowlsby didn’t have a contract.

Quick thoughts on the division, which was difficult to project back in January and has only become more muddled.

The four teams that figured to challenge for the title all have serious questions, and new issues seem to surface every week:

*** For starters, how do you assess Utah?

The Utes have been very successful in recent years in the Mountain West but will now face tougher competition on a week-in, week-out basis.

They will be doing so with a rebuilt secondary — there are some fairly decent QBs in the conference — no proven tailback and a quarterback (Jordan Wynn) who’s coming off shoulder surgery, didn’t participate in spring practice and has a new coordinator.

And yet … the Utes don’t play either Stanford or Oregon and they get Arizona State at home.

Guessing along with the Pac-12 is a risky business these days given the bold, creative nature of the conference under commish Larry Scott.

But the Hotline has never been afraid to swing and miss, especially when it comes to big stories — and the Pac-12 TV Network qualifies as a big story.

I’ve had a series of conversations with industry analysts has over the past month, trying to pin down Scott’s business plan — or at least the options he’s considering. (The conference is weeks away from finalizing the details.)

Best I can tell, the league is mulling three models — and one of them is, to say the least, revolutionary:

Model 1: Flip a channel.

In this scenario, the conference would partner with an existing programmer and flip, or re-brand, an existing channel in much the same way Discovery Health Channel was turned into the Oprah Winfrey Network.

There may not be an NBA season — I keep hearing that the work stoppage will last until January, at least — but we know there will be a draft today, as mediocre and forgettable as it might be.

And Pac-10 players will be selected, as mediocre as some of them might be.

Before we get to the nitty gritty, please note: I’m not including Alec Burks, Colorado’s sure-fire first rounder, in the projections; the Buffs weren’t part of the league last season.

In terms of prospects from the 10 continuing schools, at least six and perhaps eight or nine will be selected.

Included in the group are UCLA’s Malcolm Lee and Washington’s Isaiah Thomas, who left school early for glory and financial security the non-guaranteed contracts that come with being second-round picks.

Spoke to Scott this morning about the additions of Colorado and Utah — I’m writing about the subject next week in advance of the July 1 transformation — but we briefly touched on a few other topics of interest.

The highlights:

* Oregon football

The NCAA has not given the Pac-10 any indication as to whether it will investigate Oregon’s relationship with Willie Lyles “to the best of my knowledge,” Scott said.

Why the ever-so-slight qualification? Scott has been attending meetings on the east coast all week, but he seemed pretty sure of the radio silence from Indianapolis.

* The Pac-12 Network details.

Scott expects to “lock into a partner” within 45 days, give or take.

(The process can’t stretch beyond the summer if the league hopes to have the TV and digital networks up and running for an Aug. 2012 launch, which would coincide with the start of the new TV deal with ESPN and Fox.)

I’ll have a look at the Pac-12’s NBA Draft prospects in the next 48 hours, along with an assessment of the conference’s options for its television network.

For now: Quack.

Action: Oregon releases hundreds of pages of documents Monday as part of public records request — all stemming from the potential NCAA investigation into recruiting practices (i.e., Willie Lyles).Reaction I: While I wouldn’t call it a bombshell, one piece of information — unearthed by the Oregonian and the Eugene Register Guard — raises serious questions about Oregon’s motives: The recruiting information on 2011 recruits, for which the Ducks paid $25,000, contained no information on 2011 recruits. So why pay Lyles all that money? Was it, in reality, compensation for Lyles having steered recruits to Oregon? The Ducks had better have a rock-solid explanation when the NCAA comes a-knockin’.

We’ll make this an NCAA violations/investigations/sanctions-free post, for a change …

Action: Bodog.com installs Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as 9/2 favorite for 2011 Heisman, followed by Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones (13/2) and South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore (7/1).Reaction I: It’s not without justification, but that’s a fairly substantial betting edge when you combine the early date with the number of potential winners and the difficulty of winning. Luck could have another terrific season, solidify his position as the No. 1 draft pick … and still finish second. All it would take, in very broad terms, is two or three losses for Stanford (through no fault of Luck’s) and an undefeated/one-loss season for Oklahoma fueled by stellar play by Jones.Reaction II: Remember: It’s been more than a quarter of a century since a Heisman runner-up won the award the next season, and the guy who did it was only one of the best running backs in the history of the game: Herschel Walker. The list of runner-ups who didn’t win includes Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson.

Before we get to the action, four quick thoughts on cheating in college football — a hot-hot-hot topic these days:

1) I won’t say everybody cheats, but almost everybody cheats … including programs about which it’s often said: “They do it the right way.” (Odds are, they don’t.)
2) Some cheat more than others.
3) Some are better at it than others.
4) Head coaches aren’t always directly involved, but they know what’s going on — whether they admit it or not.

Action: USC stripped of its 2004 BCS title and accompanying trophy(presented by the American Football Coaches Association).Reaction I: The move became inevitable last year, when Reggie Bush was determined to have been an ineligible player. The BCS (and AFCA) opted to wait until the conclusion of the appeal process before taking action.Reaction II: It doesn’t change the fact that USC was the best team in the country in 2004 and, for my money, one of the two greatest teams in Pac-10 history — right there with Washington ’91.